Saint Petersburg and travel

Tag Archives: travel

What do you usually buy without thinking? You know, when you are standing there in line, bored, looking at the colorful packaging… Do I need something else? Gum? Candy? Tissues?

In China, for some bizarre reason, in every minimart near the counter you can see a stand with condoms. A whole range of them, also: lube, vibrators, rectile rings… No, I am not 13 and I don´t giggle when I see someone buying controception, but… who the heck needs a minimart vibrator? When did lube become a sorta thing you buy absentmindedly along with a pack of skittles?

I am a great supporter of safe and pleasurable sex for all parties involved, however, I can hardly imagine picking out a sex toy in clear view of a cashier and strangers buying their microwaveable lunches… but maybe it is just me.

On Sunday we went to the Science & Technology museum in Shanghai. It´s a very cool museum – three floors, various exhibitions for children and adults alike (there are several routes for different age groups: kids, teens, grown-ups and elderly). A lot of interactive stuff – touch, push, pull, smell and so on.

At first, we were a bit overwhelmed by the number of children (it is a good museum for children and it was a Sunday), but the museum is designed so that you can avoid the crowds if you want to. Mostly.

Anyhow, it was all fun, until we decided to make a detour and go look at the spiders (which weren´t on the ¨adult¨ route for some reason). I was anxious as I have a very deep fear of arachnids. Well, a fear of one of them suddenly jumping on me and taking a bite. I don´t think I would become a spiderwoman as a result.

The spider exhibitions was very fun, they are amazing creatures, creepy, but amazing. We were leaving the exhibitions, when I turned around and saw it. A mother was lifting her 5-6 year-old daughter over a trash can IN THE MUSEUM so that she could go pee or poop. Yes, it is even worse to watch than to read about it.

Well, what can I say? After seeing strangers´ children defecate in public more times than anyone should (and the number of times is zero), I am still not used to this sight. It is a freaking museum with free public bathrooms, it was an old enough child for it to not be an emergency. It is just not acceptable to ruin my memories of a nice day-off in a cool museum with my fiancé.

I don´t know what other people bring home from China, but for us, it seems, it is going to be mostly books (and mugs, picture coming later). Thank God, Russian airlines allow each of us two suitcases (23 kg each). You can try to decipher what´s written on the spines, if you want.